Mindworm, Mindworm III
by Tempest
Summary: These are not chapters, but individual stories, a sort of saga of the life of Ro'lin, a Psi Talent that has left Prophet Cha Dawn's faction, set in Alien Crossfire. In this episode, he seeks the new Resonance manual, and nearly loses his life...


Mindworms Part 3: The Resonance Manuals  
  
Chapter 1:  
There's a Time For Peace  
  
We sit together,   
the mountain and I,   
until only the mountain remains  
Li Po,  
From the Yang collection  
  
I stared down from the balcony of the house at the people that were living down there, carving out there lives in the little niches that they had created in their new environment. Then again, their 'new environment' was not really new, but an environment that they had been used to for three years. In fact, a child had already been born there, and the proud parents named it Lindley after the fallen progenitor of the Psi Talents. Their plight, as Psi Talents, was greater than the plight of any others. They had been chased from their homes by Ulrik Svensgard's personal empath guards, they had been forced to live in a forest to keep from being seen, they had just gotten used to my power about two months ago, and they were forced to abandon Aki Zeta Five's territory, their prime supply of ammunitions, energy packs, and other supplies. In fact, the massive amount of cash Aki Zeta Five had provided me was gone within month, almost all donated to the construction of new quarters, another meditation room, and algorythmic software to help decode the alien communications that constantly came through the odd alien 'television' that I had intercepted two years ago. Just now, the software was beginning to take affect, and solutions were forming. The battle between my mind and Planet's place in it, the source of my power, was becoming heated as half of the Planetary consciousness was trying to assimilate my mind, and I was barely able to resist. Planet itself had developed a rudimentary communication form and occasionally, it would even talk to me. Normally, Psi Talents resist the call of Planet by receiving a psychic boost of sorts from their companions, but Planet was so strong that no other Psi Talent could help him. Suddenly, a mental call came through my thoughts as one of the Elders summoned him to the decoding room. It was time.  
Once I received the summons, I hurried as fast as I could to the room. Ever since my experience with Aki Zeta 5 two years ago, I had been eager to understand the alien language, and I also wanted to know of this odd thing that Planet called the Resonance. I tapped into it once, but it was a brief contact and I was talking with Planet at the time, and didn't remember how. Deep in my thoughts, my body seemed to act of its own accord, walking my brain to the decoder room. When I opened the door, or at least, when I think I opened the door, the Elders startled me.   
"Ro'lin. Listen to this."  
I walked closer to the stereo, expecting a bubble of half sounds like the last time he had checked, a year ago. That was an unfair assumption, of course, but it was what I thought would come. One of the more powerful Elders, Taik, flipped a switch on the 'television' and suddenly, a voice came through. It wasn't crystal clear, of course. In fact, the grammar was horrible to our standards, but it was clear that it was a voice.  
"Progenitor to humans: Move or die!"  
I listened to it suddenly when I realized that the alien on the screem was remarkably similar to the alien he had met on his mission where he seized control of an alien vehicle. Back then, though, the alien was cowering in terror.  
"Human: Buckled in fear."  
At this, I laughed loudly, barely able to hold myself up. This alien was the one who was nearly dead with fear. My laughter was cut short, though, at his next statement.  
"Humans: The resonance they fear. Resonance: Power."  
I stumbled, held up by one of my companions. What was this resonance the aliens talked about? I had to know! Suddenly, I felt a roil in my mind, a psychic summons. In my mind, I seemed to scream out against it, but against my will, I was brought into the consciousness. As I had done before, I thought towards it, and felt an emotional response. Recently, it had been summoning me to keep it company of sorts but this time, there was a definite reason for the summons. The consciousness that possesed part of my mind seemed to whisper,  
Watch.  
In front of me, I saw three golden datapads hovering in the air, Planet as their background. Suddenly, all three dropped to Planet, landing on different parts of it. In my mind, I remembered it clearly, keeping in my mind the general location of each. Suddenly, Planet seemed to whisper.  
The resonance... The resonance you seek... is in... these.  
I reached out, tried to touch the planet, hoping for some sign as to where they were, but instead of that, I woke up in my bed. The Elders must have dragged him there when I collapsed. I sighed at thought about how frequently that was happening. There had to be a way he could fight Planet. There just had to.   
I woke up the next day with a headache, and I reached through the haze over my mind to the pills that were on the table next to me. I quickly swallowed it and then followed it up with a nutrient supplement also there on the table. Somewhere during this procedure, my mind unfogged and I got to looking around my room. It was rather bare except for the bed, the table, a chester drawer, and a couple of momentos. One of them was a framed picture of the battle between the elite empaths and me aboard what I had learned what once was Svensgard 13, a once rather new battleship... before I nearly destroyed it. The seen was of me with a raised hand blocking one of their blasts. The picture was taken from one of their security cameras, which I had gotten access to through my link to Captain Svensgard's datalinks. Luckily, because that operation was a secret between Captain Svensgard and The Prophet, Cha Dawn, there were no wanted alerts issued over the broadband communications. Getting out of bed, I walked over to my chester drawer and picked out some clothes. My style was pretty simple, actually. Some loose, black, synthetic jeans, a black undershirt, a pair of thin, close to the skin shades, and a silver vest. Recently, I had gotten into that dark look. Why? I'm still trying to figure it out, but it worked for me. I walked out of my room after straightening up and walked to the Elders Hall. The elders requested my presence at a meeting they were hosting. I really didn't have to be asked, I would have begged to go. I found it an honor to be among the highest of our Psi Talents, and I felt it an honor that I could gloat about the fact that I was the most powerful. I hadn't cared much for power or prestige, though, so I let Vick, a female Elder, take my place after a year and a half. She wasn't nearly as powerful as me, but she tended to keep her head longer than any of us. When I reached the door, I straightened my sunglasses and walked in.   
The assembly was about to begin when I entered, so there was the dull roar that came when a large number of people gathered in a room before they had something to focus them. I joined the other Elders in one of the chairs in the front of the room. When I sat down, Vick got up and walked to the microphone.   
"Friends. Fellow Psi Talents."  
Slowly, the talking stopped. If they were still in the military, they wouldn't have taken nearly that long. Now, though, they'd gotten casual. Then again, that wasn't all a bad thing. From the speed-up of their growth, a casual atmosphere was better for Psi training then the pressing, distracting needs of the military.   
"We are here, today, to announce a groundbreaking discovery in this center."  
I wonder what she's talking about.  
I thought to myself. It was probably some new weapon development, or one of the Psi R&D people had learned something new about the xenofungus.  
"We have decoded the alien language and are ready to take the next step."  
Well, that was going to be my next guess.   
"We have come up with a plan to learn of the aliens' motives."  
She brought up a holo projector and a holo cube, shining the picture from the projector into the cube, projecting a three dimensional view of an alien.   
"We have reconfigured our holo-suits, now useless because Aki Zeta 5 will no longer allow us, into an alien projection."  
I raised an eyelid and nodded my head. I wonder how long they worked on that.  
"We have devised a plan where, with our new decoding algorithm, we will reconfigure a voice converter to match the new algorithm, and send Ro'lin to investigate the aliens."  
I nearly stumbled from my chair, looking for someone to tell him he was joking.  
"Ro'lin. Would you like to come up and say a few words?"  
I stumbled out of my chair and walked up the podium. Rather than talk to the other Psi Talents, though, I turned around and half yelled,  
"Okay! Who the hell set this up?!   
A small burst of laughter spread around the room. The odd thing was that they thought I was joking. I wasn't. Taik stood up, smiling.  
"We would have included you in the discussion, but you passed out."  
In my mind, I swore at Planet for making me collapse. Then again, I remembered something. One of the gold-plated datapads in my vision fell on Usurper territory. Also, the only real danger I had was from Aki Zeta 5, if she attacked the Usurpers where I was.   
"Okay."  
Then, I turned to face the audience. The few that managed to pay attention were slowly quieting those that were still laughing.  
"Well, I didn't exactly expect to be up here, and I don't really have much to say."  
A few snickered as I tried to come up with something to say.   
"While we've been here, I've always thought of this as my home, a place of rest and relaxation. The Usurpers and their alien enemies, the Caretakers, have been an annoyance. They've been a flea in our side for three years."  
There was a series of nods around the room.  
"I think it's time we pulled them out, and I'd gladly help with that. I would like to thank the Elders for volunteering me for this. Well, not really, but that's what I'm supposed to say, and I must say, it's time these aliens got what's coming to 'em."  
I set up to go to the alien territory for my first mission in about three months. I hadn't made an entry into any other groups' territory for at least that long, and that wasn't even close to being considered an espionage. I went to the hangar to find a replica of that alien vehicle I had seen on my mission for Aki Zeta 5. A young Psi Talent, Tolio, came up with the holographic device. Tolio was the base mechanic/scientist since he wasn't all that great as a Psi Talent. It wasn't for lack of trying, though. He just didn't have the natural ability, the genetic blueprint for it. His scientific knowhow made up for it, though. He pressed a switch on the device and suddenly, a holographic screen came around me. Normally, I only wore one of these holographic devices for certain small physical changes, like when I needed to be a female, or I needed to imitate Cybernetic implants. This time, though, it surrounded me completely. Luckily, it was a one way device, so on the outside, it was opaque. On the inside, it was semi transparent. I guess it worked pretty well because it would let me remember that I was impersonating an alien. Tolio placed a device in my ear that felt rather itchy, but I would have to tolerated it. Then, he placed a mask over my mouth that would replace my voice with the sounds of the aliens. Tolio gave me some last minute instructions.  
"Remember, these aliens don't communicate like we do. They take base sounds and alter them."  
I was going to say something, but from my mouth came an imitation of what Tolio said. Tolio smiled and put on an earpiece. I spoke again, but this time, he understood.  
"Tolio, how do I know I'm not doing something they find strange."  
Tolio smiled and said to me,  
"You don't."  
I was going to say something, but he raised a finger.  
"Stay quiet, subdued for a day or two and look at their culture. Don't screw this up."  
"But what if subdued is considered wrong?"  
"You're screwed."  
On that last note of confidence from Tolio, I left in the vehicle and drove around Cybernetic territory, through some xenofungus, towards Usurper lands. It took about a day on autopilot for me to get there, a very uneventful day. Most of my time, I spent adapting to my new body, and reading my Psi Manuals. Even after 2 years, we had still collected only 2 Psi Manuals. Every time I thought of the Psi Manuals, that vision of the three gold-plated datapads came to mind. One of them fell into Usurper territory, 1 into Planet Cult territory, and still another was somewhere in the hands of one of Svensgard's pirates. When I thought of the vision, something came to mind. Planet told me that if I found these, I would hold the key to the resonance, that strange force that was in Aki Zeta 5's study of the aliens, in the alien communicae, and now, in Planet itself. If Planet knew where these odd golden datapads were, perhaps it knew where the other Psi Manuals. I summoned all my thoughts to enter into that tumble of thoughts and emotions that was the collective Planetary consciousness.   
The consciousness allowed me in, something that it seemed to be doing more selectively nowadays. It apparently didn't like visitors all that much any more. It was most likely preoccupied with it's inner conflict. In truth, though, there might have been another reason that I didn't see. After all, it seemed to be gaining in size and strength, like muscles after constant exercise. It was even getting smarter than before. In my first communication with the entity, it didn't even speak in words. It spoke in emotions, feelings. I mentally waded through vast reams of material and memories before I stopped. I might as well pose a question to the consciousness, rather than try to find the information on my own. If it could think in words, maybe I could talk to it this time, though, rather than project an image into it.   
"Planet!"  
The entire entity seemed to listen to me. At least, the entire portion that was allied to me. As though listening intently, it stopped. In a way, it looked like a snake or a bacteria, moving as one flexible organism.  
"I would like to... know you better. Can you please tell me where the other Psi Manuals are?"  
Planet seemed to confer within itself, and a voice came to me.  
"Proposition... difficult to decide."  
At first, I thought it was going to completely not answer me, but then, it seemed to defocus its attention from itself and focus it on me.  
"Proposition... accepted."  
Suddenly, I saw a world overlayed with a grid map, the official map of Chiron. The world flattened, like it did on official maps, and then 10 different dots appeared.   
"Ten?"  
I asked. I was surprised, of course, because there were only 8 other Manuals.  
"Instructions... of resonance."  
I didn't understand, but I nodded anyway.   
"Thank you."  
I shouldn't have thanked them so quickly, though, because I suddenly felt a sudden searing on my mind. The map almost burned into my brain, and this was not a painless process. Mentally gasping for breath, I asked,  
"What was that for?"  
Planet seemed to smile, if it was capable of it. It was more of an emotion of smug contentment.   
"Ro'lin... must understand. Knowledge... price. Both are one. One comes... other."  
I understood it, but I didn't like it. Rather than the previous times, Planet didn't throw me out of it's consciousness. Instead, it gently seemed to pull me out. Maybe it was becoming polite. Then again... I felt my headache and saw the map. Maybe it wasn't.   
In about two more days of traveling, I reached the Usurper border. If I were a normal human, I probably wouldn't have been able to sense it. However, I could almost feel the Usurper sensibility from a mile away. It was almost human, but not quite. In a collective way, it was almost like Planet, except not as one. It was hard to explain, really. It was like a human of another type. A mutation. Then again, if they had Psi Talents, it was possible that we were like mutants to them. I pressed a button on the side of my clothes, on a small datapad, that did another diagnostic of my holo-body. I had about forty eight hours of charge without a conventional charge. Just in case the aliens didn't use conventional power, though, the vehicle had been equipped with a series of spare batteries to charge my holo-body whenever I charged with it. The diagnostic check came out clear, so I activated it again and drove at a casual speed so as not to attract attention.   
I arrived into the city, barely a town compared to many of the human cities, and 'parked' in one of the slums. If I had gone to the Usurpers' primary base, it would have been more powerful, probably, but here, in the backwater realms so far away from humans, huge, fortified cities were not necessary. I walked into one of the streets, which were occupied by only a couple of other Usurpers, and passed by them without even attracting a glance. Depending on the society, this could mean that they scorned me and would not bother looking at me, or I just didn't attract attention. I desperately wished we knew more about their society. Even though that was part of my mission, though, I noticed that in such a small communal city, I probably wouldn't learn much. The only thing I could do here was find the 'Resonance Manual.'  
It didn't take too long to find the nearby weapons shop. I could feel the aliens altering the air. It wasn't that I had heard about it, but it was more like the air had the feeling of weapons in it, like some residual echo of old conversations inside the building filled the air. When no one was looking, I reached into my holo body and pressed a button on a device attached to my forehead, testing for anything poisonous in the air. Perhaps that feeling of weapons was coming from something else. Luckily, it wasn't. The air was perfectly clean. I walked into the shop and looked around. The alien at the front desk altered in my direction,  
"Can I help you?"  
For a moment, I simply looked at one of the weapons there, a blade with spikes at both ends, a deadly weapon.   
"Not yet. I am not yet certain what weapon I would like."  
The manager altered a raised eyebrow. Actually, he didn't alter a raised eyebrow, but his subconscious alterations changed the room, and I could hear the raised eyebrow. I looked around, not certain of what I wanted. Actually, I didn't want anything, so I turned to the door. Suddenly, I heard a blaster whine from behind me, the sound of one charging up.  
"Are you going to rob my store? Even you must know that you don't walk out of a shop without paying the risk fee."  
I smiled under my body suit, but tried to project a mental feeling in mind of my futility. I hoped it would pass for an altered sound.  
"Oh. Yes."  
I really had no clue what he was talking about, but I obliged.  
"What is the fee?"  
"50 watts of energy."  
Energy? I thought. That's impossible that an alien species would use energy. I reached into an extended pocket that projected out of the body along with some other clothes, which gave them the impression I was wearing alien clothes. I just hope my energy units would suffice. 10 units were fifty watts, so I pulled one out and tossed it onto the merchant's table. His eyes grew wide, if that was possible with his species. Well, the air definitely sounded like his eyes were growing wide.  
"Y... y... oh, in the name of the resonance! I'm sorry sir! So sorry! I didn't know that a probe team was in this little town. Here! Come to the back room. I'm so sorry!"  
He was altering so fast that my translator could barely work fast enough. I simply altered an affirmative, gathering what was happening, and followed him into the back room. He had no idea that I wasn't a Usurper. I could've laughed my head off if the circumstances warranted it. We entered a room full of secret weapons, beyond anything else in the front rooms.  
"These... these are my res...resonance weapons."  
I nodded and picked up a blade off one of the walls. I was trained in sword combat at the base, so it was a weapon I could use. I took it up, pulled out a cube worth one energy unit, and tossed it up into the air. The merchant backed off and I hit the cube with the sword, detonating all the energy inside it, shocking everything in the room.  
"Raw energy?"  
He altered to me. I nodded. This weapon must have affected the unit at the electronic and molecular levels because the shear energy inside energy units made them extremely difficult to destroy.   
"I'll take this, and two of your finest projectile weapons."  
He shuffled over to a wall where he pulled out two pistol-like weapons.  
"Th...the...these are m...my best."  
He altered. I nodded and altered back.  
"Thank you. Would you request anything for payment?"  
For a moment, he was shocked. Finally, he seemed to come out of his reverie.  
"For you, just 20 watts."  
He altered. I pulled out four one unit chips.  
"This is the human equivalent of 20 watts. It's worth just as much, but the case is extremely durable."  
He bowed down in thanks. Feeling that I had cheated the poor merchant for those weapons, I pulled out the weapons I had in my pocket.  
"I have no need of these."  
I altered. I handed him by laser pistol, and my particle impactor rifle. He stared at them like they were long-lost treasures.  
"This laser pistol is comparatively weaker than the resonance..."  
I was about to alter 'weapons,' but some voice urged me not to.  
"But it has no moving parts, so it won't break down. This is what they call a particle impactor. It's about as powerful as the guns you gave me."  
He seemed to breathe excitement. From the air, and from my Psi abilities, he knew that human weapons were sold as treasures in the Usurper world. To make him feel like I was a more Usurperish Usurper, I convinced him that I knew this by altering,  
"I buy weapons for power, not sentimental value. For your service, take it. You can sell them for a small fortune."  
He simply nodded as I left the building. Apparently, I was worth a lot of money.   
I returned to my vehicle and contacted Planet again, trying to find the precise location of the Resonance Manual. Luckily, I could sense that it was near. Then I felt a twitch in my senses. It was in the weapons shop! I had totally missed it. Instantly, I walked back over to the shop and flicked the Usurper a cube for the entrance fee.  
"I need to see your back room again."  
I altered. After seeing the cube, he eagerly pressed the button that led the door to open. I confidently walked inside, and suddenly, I felt an urging from Planet.  
To your right...  
I looked and there it was. I picked it up and walked back out.   
"How much will I have to pay for this?"  
I altered. The shopkeeper seemed to gained his merchant senses, and sighed.  
"It's an ancient human relic. I don't know..."  
I know he was lying. It was only made recently.   
"Don't lie to me."  
I altered, exerting my psychic power over his mind.  
"Here's what I'll do for you, friend. I will give you everything contained in my pockets, a total of four hundred watts in those containers I showed you. Combined with the two guns and the money I paid you, it's worth it."  
He quickly agreed and he let me have the book. I looked down at it and frowned.  
"Manipulating the Resonance?"  
I altered. Suddenly, both the shopkeeper and I stopped. There was no way a Usurper could understand human speech, and he knew it. He pressed a button on his table and suddenly, sirens blared throughout the town. The shopkeeper lunged at me, but I pulled out a resonance blaster and hit him with it. It slammed into his shelled body, sending him flying back into the wall. As his back cracked open, revealing his near-slimy body, I felt something tear at me, making me flinch. Whatever this resonance was, it affected me when they died. I ran out, right in the midst of a Usurper guard.   
  
And There's a Time for War  
  
War is war. Destruction is destruction. This would appear to be obvious, but , but war is not destruction. It is victory. To achieve victory, simply appear to give your opponent what he wants, and he will go away, or he will join you in your quest for additional power.   
Datatech Sinder Roze,  
Information Burns  
  
Man has killed man from the beginning of time, and each new frontier has brought new ways and new places to die. Why should the future be any different?  
Colonel Corazon Santiago,  
"Planet: A Survivalist's Guide"  
  
In a flash, I jumped into the air, using a slight telekinetic boost to push myself upwards, landing right into their back line. I brought my sword out of its containment field/sheath and lashed out at the nearest Usurper, watching it instantly become two pieces as the echoes of the Resonance slammed into me. With my Psi abilities, I created a wave to sweep them all aside, and the wave slammed into them hard. They fell back as expected, but not as far as I had expected or hope that they would. I started running hard for my vehicle when a blast erupted from a resonance pistol one of the aliens owned. I flashed my sword around and, oddly enough, the two forces seemed to hang in midair for a moment, allowing me to sidestep my oppoent's shot and bring my sword out of harm's way. This seemed to shock the Usurpers into awareness and the suddenly attacked at once, a dozen blasts seemingly coming at me at once. In a single, upward motion, I flew grabbed myself with my mind and launched up into the air, propelling myself to the top of one of their roofs. At this vantage point, I sheathed my sword and pulled out both resonance cannons, firing them both at once, blowing away four of the aliens before they even knew what was coming. Then, suddenly, another resonance blast came from behind me. My Psi talents gave me just enough warning to dive out of the way before being blown to my subatomic parts. The alien reinforcements had arrived.   
Realizing the futility of my situation, I jumped down and ran full tilt towards the weapons shot before the aliens could hit me. Once inside, I grabbed the first weapon I saw, a personal force field. I barricaded the door with it and watched as the aliens' weapon fire turned the force shield as hot as hellfire. Suddenly, as I was hoping, it shattered into millions of flaming parts. I made sure my 'Resonance Manual' was set in place and quickly ran outside... only to find that my enemy was facing another direction, towards another enemy force. Aki Zeta 5.  
At first I thought it was a miracle that Zeta 5 was there to save my hide, but then I rememebered our last encounter. She didn't really favor me that much and, truth be told, she probably wanted me dead. A laser blast fired at the aliens, slamming into one of them, reducing them to hard, shelled debris. Clenching my teeth against the resonance screams, I lept into the enemy force with my sword out, swiping quickly through them, decimating their forces. Aided by my Psi powers, I made a dice here, a thrust here, and the Cybernetics did the rest. Several times, I had to use my sword to deflect a stray laser pistol blast, but I never had to really do anything difficult. Then, I felt a burning pain flash up my left leg. One of the Usurpers had got my leg with his tusks.   
In pain, I lashed out at the alien, cleanly chopping its, his, hers, I don't know, head off. However, I could barely see through the blinding pain. Using what little control over my Psi powers I had left, I focused on my vehicle and walked towards it, hoping that I wouldn't be attacked. Through the battle, though, the Usurpers didn't notice me. When I got to the car, I activated the autopilot, turned off my holo-body, checked to make sure I still had my manual, and laid down to rest.   
  
Eternity lies ahead of us, and behind.  
Have you drunk your fill?  
-Lady Deirdre Skye,  
Conversations with Planet  



End file.
